Third Down: Ways to stay above .500

Chris Bradford @BCTBradford

Tuesday

Oct 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 29, 2013 at 11:47 PM

Is there any one thing the Steelers can realistically do at this point to get back into the playoff conversation? Probably not. As has become abundantly clear through the first seven games of this season, this is not a very good Steelers team. But it’s also not 2-5 bad either. The Steelers can still hold out hopes of a .500 record to avoid a losing season for the first time in a decade. Times Steelers writer Chris Bradford gives three ways how:

1. ONE FROM THE START

While no one could have foreseen an NFL record 93-yard QB keeper on the first play of scrimmage coming, the Steelers certainly have to start better than they did Sunday in Oakland. The inability to play with a lead has been a recurring theme all season. The Steelers have been out-scored 54-19 in the first quarter. They’ve led only twice at halftime and even then their biggest lead was just four points (10-6) against Baltimore two weeks ago.

2. GIVE AND TAKE

The Steelers, who have just five takeaways this season (tied for last in the AFC), actually padded their stats with three more of them Sunday. Those, however, were more a result of the ineptness of Oakland’s offense than anything the Steelers did defensively.

Losing the turnover battle has always been a losing recipe. The Steelers’ aging defense is still more than serviceable – witness their second-half shut-down performance against the Raiders – but they appear to be a half-step slower. It’s an un-dynamic group that has to do a better job forcing turnovers or, yes, even score points themselves. They are one of just four teams

3. FLIPPED OUT

More than in any other area, the Steelers offense has struggled mightily to establish an identity. They are going three-and-out 28 percent of the time, thus relying heavily on a punting game that has been, to put it mildly, inefficient. Including one Sunday against the Raiders, Zoltan Mesko had just three punts that resulted in opponents’ field position staring inside the 20. As much as distance and hang time, the role of the punter is to flip the field in the Steelers’ favor. That just didn’t happen with Mesko, who was given his pink slip Tuesday afternoon.

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